Mercosur to hold special meeting on global financial crisis

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

MONTEVIDEO, March 17 (Chinese media) -- The Parliament of South American Common Market (Mercosur) decided on Tuesday to gather the economy ministers of the bloc in a special session to deal with the current economic downturn.

The session will be held on April 27 to 28 in Asuncion, capital of Paraguay, aimed at discussing the "grave crisis" which "already had substantial effects on real economy," the parliament said in a communique.

"The bloc's contraction tendency in the flow of commercial trade could affect the viability and the strategic meanings of the Mercosur," it said.

The parliament also said that Mercosur "must unify and coordinate its position to face the crisis in the Group-20 (G20), World Trade organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank."

The parliament requested member governments to analyze the crisis at the Americas Summit scheduled on April 17 to 19 in Trinidad and Tobago.

Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are full members of Mercosur, while Venezuela has been waiting for joining the bloc.